Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“Calhoun Bas—”
“Objection! This line of questioning has nothing to do with Ms. Callas’s case. I move for the entire line of questioning to be stricken and tossed out.”
The DA didn’t waste time, either. She shot back, “Miss Callas was brought as their witness. They opened the line of questioning by asking about her relationship with the defendant. I think it bears exploration, Your Honor.”
The judge was silent, taking in both lawyers before his gaze searched the room.
He found me, his eyes narrowed. His head raised. He was scanning the entire room.
Matt leaned over, whispering, “I think he’s looking for Kash.”
Right. My lover, who was now “on the run,” though I hadn’t had time to digest that, either. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t respond.
“I’m going to allow it.”
“Your Honor!”
He raised his hand up, silencing the defense. “I want to see where this goes.” He nodded to Payton. “Keep going, Miss Callas, but bailiff, I’d like more security guards added to the room.”
Two men left the room and Payton closed her eyes.
“Miss Callas.” His tone was gentle.
She opened her eyes.
He nodded, his entire demeanor softening. “You’re safe. You can say what you need to say in here.”
Her head dipped in an abrupt nod back, her eyes glistening. She closed them, then reopened them, and she swiped at her cheek quickly before leaning forward.
She started, and once she got going, she told everything.
She and Quinn were “sold” to Calhoun when they were young.
They were raised in Calhoun’s main house, but he treated them almost as if they were his daughters.
Quinn had been angry, rebellious. She partied, acted out.
Not Payton. She withdrew.
She learned that Quinn had begun working for Calhoun. She was taken from the home and she didn’t see her sister for two years.
“Where did you see your sister again?”
“In California.”
The DA’s head straightened at that information.
Even the judge looked shocked.
Payton continued, “I was sent to live with her, but Calhoun asked me to watch her.”
A chair scraped against the floor over at Quinn’s table. There was a hissing sound, and the judge fixed them with a glare. “Silence, Ms. Callas. Counsel, control your client.”
He gave Payton another nod.
“She—uh—Quinn was different when I went to live with her. She was more smooth, I guess. More seductive. We lived there for a few years, and that’s when she met Peter Francis.” She stopped, a sudden stricken look coming over her. She jerked back in her seat.
“Miss Callas?” This from the DA. “How was your sister when she met Peter Francis?”
“Um, my relationship with my sister was almost nonexistent once she married Peter. I remained behind in California and she moved to Chicago to be with him.”
“Miss Callas, weren’t you instructed to watch your sister for Mr. Bastian?”
“I was, but Quinn wouldn’t let me come with her, and Calhoun never contacted me. I don’t think he really put much stock in me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he never did. He only gave Quinn attention.” Her cheeks got red and her head ducked down briefly. “She’s prettier than me. That’s mostly all Calhoun cared about, a woman’s looks.”
No one commented on that, though to be fair to Payton, she wasn’t not pretty. She was. She just wasn’t stunning like Quinn, but if she’d said this in a room where I could’ve spoken up, I would’ve told her it was more than that. Payton looked submissive. She was submissive. Someone like Calhoun Bastian would’ve disregarded her as anyone or anything useful to him.
“Miss Callas, I’d like to ask the reason the defense called you as a witness today. What were you supposed to say for them?”
“Objectio—”
“Overruled.” The judge’s tone was flat and final. He wasn’t messing around.
“I—” A sheen of tears came into her eyes, and she searched me out. Me? I felt zapped by her look, not understanding it. An almost apologetic look flared before she looked at Quinn, the same sheen of tears just thickening then. “I’m sorry, Quinn. I know you thought I was going to come in and testify for you, but I can’t.” Her voice grew hoarse. She looked at the DA. “Quinn’s team wanted me to testify that I’d seen Bailey Hayes abusing her mother.”
Shock spread through me, piercing me in the chest.
I couldn’t breathe for a second.
A whisper went through the room, but Payton was continuing. “Since Chrissy Hayes was found alive, I was given orders to discredit anything Chrissy Hayes would say. I was supposed to talk about how I saw her daughter hit her on three different occasions. I was supposed to talk about the language Bailey would use with her mother, how I had overheard Bailey blackmailing her mother into being a loving and doting mother.”
The DA didn’t respond at first. She was just as stiff as I was. Then she coughed, and her voice came out strangled. “And for the record, have you observed any of these events?”